Hey Kevin. Thanks for answering my question. I didn’t realize how much you dissect a question, until it was my own. I said the fitcast was tied for my favorite podcast (with an MMA show), but with the new format, the fitcast is definitely my go to website. -Joey

Kevin,
Thanks for mentioning The New Rules of Lifting on your show. In one of the first episodes of The FitCast that I listened to, you talked about how you’d gotten “addicted” to strength. I’m just a couple months into New Rules, and I think I’m already beginning to understand what you meant. All I want to do these days when I go to the gym is tackle those lifts again–I actually LIKE the Squat now, and a few months ago, I was afraid of it. For a guy with body image issues, it’s a good change from pointless sets of vanity lifts (curls, kickbacks, crunches, blah-blah-blah). I feel stronger now no matter what I look like (but the aesthetic bonuses don’t hurt, either).

I have a question for whoever on the show wants to chime in: I love juice–the stuff made from fruit, I mean. I drink it like a toddler, minus the sippy cup. I’ve always assumed that since it had vitamins and antioxidants and stuff that it was a good part of a healthy diet, as long as it wasn’t doped with HFCS or other additives, and even better if it wasn’t from concentrate. But as I’ve been getting a handle on the nutrition side of my training, I’ve heard nothing but bile against it–fruit sugar makes you fat, drinking juice deprives you of getting fiber, etc. So what’s the deal? Is juice that bad for me? Would using a juicer help?

I’m in the Fat Loss portion of New Rules, trying to trim away the food baby I gained during my internship, so I’d like to be firing on all pistons. Since I don’t drink coffee, I need a shot of OJ in the morning to get me going (I drink the stuff with pulp in it–does that help?). Is that screwing me over?

Gratefully,
David
St. Louis, MO

I was using creatine and seeing strength improvements, but even taking it in a relatively small amount I was getting the puffer-fish effect and my pants were getting tight. I stopped using it and the side effects went away, but I’m looking for another supplement to try that might have similar benefits but without the side effects. Any suggestions?